Florida State is not what anybody would consider a Bottom 25 mainstay. That's a designation for programs like UTEP, which has won two Bottom 25 titles. Another difference between Florida State and UTEP is that UTEP isn't ranked in the Bottom 25 this week. Florida State cannot make that claim.
So while the Seminoles are not a mainstay here, they've spent far too many weeks hanging out here in recent seasons. I thought they could avoid the Bottom 25 this season after seeing how well they played in Week 1 against Notre Dame when they nearly pulled off the surprising upset. Instead, it was Florida State on the wrong end of an upset as Jacksonville State -- a team that lost 31-0 to UAB to open the season -- beat the 'Noles 20-17 thanks to whatever this was.
Now the 'Noles are here again, and there's a familiar feeling in the pits of so many stomachs. But Florida State fans can take solace in the fact that, at least early in the season, the Bottom 25 rankings are extremely volatile. We had nine new teams in the rankings last week while others escaped despite losing. That's how strange things can get here while the sample sizes are so small, but it adds to the fun. So, if your school is here, smile, enjoy it, and cross your fingers really hard. Maybe they'll be out soon.
Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
---|---|---|---|
25. Ball State | 1-1 | Ball State is the first of six MAC teams in the rankings this week, which I love to see. I've always thought of the MAC as the official conference of The Bottom 25. The league routinely schedules "up" for its nonconference early in the season, which leads to plenty of losses. Ball State's here because it just lost 44-13 at Penn State. This week it has a road game against Wyoming. (Last Week: Not Ranked) | |
24. Eastern Michigan | 1-1 | It's not just that the Eagles lost to Wisconsin 34-7, it's that they were held to 92 yards of offense. And even that total is misleading, as it was sometime in the third quarter when I checked the box score, and EMU had only 52 yards. I texted a friend who is a Wisconsin alum, and they told me they legitimately felt bad about what the Badgers defense was doing to the Eagles. Maybe this week it'll be EMU fans feeling bad for No. 10 UMass when they head to Amherst. (NR) | |
23. Bowling Green | 0-2 | Three straight MAC teams to start the rankings! The Falcons fall seven spots to No. 23 because, while they lost to South Alabama 22-19, they played well enough to improve their numbers after a 38-6 loss to Tennessee. This week the Falcons are hoping to pick up their first win against Murray State. (16) | |
22. Louisiana | 1-1 | So, uh, remember all the talk about how the Ragin' Cajuns were returning so much from last year's Sun Belt championship team? Remember how they began the season ranked? Well, the 38-18 loss to Texas is one thing, but struggling to get by Nicholls 27-24 is a bit concerning, no? (NR) | |
21. Florida State | 0-2 | The good news is Florida State's two losses have come by six combined points. The bad news is one was to Jacksonville State and the schedule doesn't get any easier from here. This week it's a road trip to Wake Forest. (NR) | |
20. Arizona | 0-2 | I felt there was a strong chance Arizona would be the worst team in the Pac-12 this season and nothing has changed this opinion through two weeks. The Wildcats followed up a 24-16 loss to BYU with a 38-14 loss to San Diego State. Losing to those two teams is nothing to be ashamed of, but it's not as if the Pac-12 will offer easier opponents. The good news is Northern Arizona provides a good shot for a victory this week. (NR) | |
19. Vanderbilt | 1-1 | Vanderbilt won The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week against Colorado State in a 24-21 thriller. Unfortunately, a win over the Rams wasn't enough to get out of The Bottom 25, and the Commodores have another challenging game this weekend against a Stanford team that drove the final nail in Clay Helton's coffin. (4) | |
18. East Carolina | 0-2 | I keep waiting for East Carolina to take the next step under coach Mike Houston. The Pirates had good chances to make statements against Appalachian State and South Carolina, but came up short. This week provides another opportunity on the road against a Marshall team that has looked awesome through two weeks. (NR) | |
17. Kansas | 1-1 | The first thought that came to mind when Kansas beat South Dakota 17-14 to open the season was, "the Jayhawks won't start the season in The Bottom 25!" Sadly, it didn't take them long to return home. A 49-22 loss to Coastal Carolina wiped out all of the good stuff. This week, the Jayhawks get Baylor in Lawrence. (NR) | |
16. Georgia Southern | 1-1 | Maybe Florida Atlantic is better than I thought? The Owls played reasonably well in a loss to Florida and then pasted Georgia Southern 38-6 last weekend. Now the Eagles are staring a road trip to Arkansas in the face before they get No. 22 Louisiana to open Sun Belt play. (NR) | |
15. Tulsa | 0-2 | Honestly, I didn't feel like Tulsa was the lesser team during its 28-23 loss to Oklahoma State. It was just on the wrong end of the score when it ended. Through two games, the Golden Hurricane are 0-2, with their losses coming by seven points. That's a good sign for the future, but Tulsa's on the road to face an angry Ohio State team this week. (11) | |
14. ULM | 0-1 | The Warhawks took the weekend off but return to action this week against Deion Sanders' Jackson State. (12) | |
13. Hawaii | 1-2 | The Rainbow Warriors are 0-2 against the Pac-12 and 1-0 against everyone else. This week they'll get to face somebody from the everyone else, but it happens to be reigning Mountain West champion San Jose State. (NR) | |
12. South Florida | 0-2 | We shouldn't overlook the fact South Florida has opened the season with two Power Five opponents -- NC State and Florida -- but, man, the Bulls have a lot of work to do. They followed up a 45-0 loss to the Wolfpack with a 42-20 loss to the Gators that didn't feel nearly as close as the score suggests. (10) | |
11. Ohio | 0-2 | Life after Frank Solich has been rough. The Bobcats followed up their 29-9 season-opening loss to Syracuse with a 28-26 loss to Duquesne. It was Duquesne's first win over an FBS program in school history. Now the Bobcats are dealing with a short turnaround as they prepare for a road trip to No. 22 Louisiana on Thursday night. It's The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week! (22) | |
10. UMass | 0-2 | Hey, the Minutemen covered a spread! It's not the same thing as winning, but it's a step in the right direction! This week, UMass looks to get a win on the board at home against No. 24 Eastern Michigan. | |
9. UNLV | 0-2 | Yeah, I think the Rebels will be here for the entire season. They're already 0-2 with losses to Eastern Washington and Arizona State, and their next six games are Iowa State, Fresno State, UTSA, Utah State, San Jose State and Nevada. This is a team that could easily be 0-8 or 1-7. (6) | |
8. Miami (OH) | 0-2 | If I'm a Redhawks fan, I'm feeling good about the 31-26 loss to Minnesota. The team played well; they just lost to a Big Ten opponent a week after losing to top-10 Cincinnati. Things get a lot easier this week with Long Island. The same Long Island that lost 48-10 to FIU and 66-0 to West Virginia. (5) | |
7. Georgia State | 0-2 | It's been a rough start to the season for the Panthers, who followed up their 43-10 loss to Army with a 59-17 loss against North Carolina. This week brings a tough Charlotte team that opened its season with a road win against Duke. (23) | |
6. New Mexico St. | 0-3 | The Aggies are not a good football team, but they've shown a lot more fight than I expected in their last two losses against San Diego State and New Mexico. This week provides their best chance to win for a while with South Carolina State coming to town. (7) | |
5. Rice | 0-2 | Starting your season with games against Arkansas, Houston, and Texas is rough, so it's no surprise to see the Owls at 0-2. I'm sure they're wishing the Longhorns were coming into the game this weekend off of a win rather than a loss, too. (21) | |
4. Colorado State | 0-2 | The Rams lost to Vanderbilt last week, but still fell three spots in the rankings because they played reasonably well. Now, the Rams have to hit the road to take on the same Toledo team that nearly knocked off Notre Dame on Saturday. (1) | |
3. Navy | 0-2 | It's never a great sign when your offensive coordinator is being fired after the second game of the season, but it's a move that does make sense. Navy has mustered 10 points through two games and it's not as if they were facing elite defenses. The Mids will take the weekend off and hope to get things fixed before opening AAC play against Houston next week. (8) | |
2. UConn | 0-3 | So ... firing Randy Edsall didn't solve it. The Huskies lost at home to Purdue 49-0 and now get to prepare for the joys of defending an option team. It's not often you see teams set as nearly five-touchdown underdogs against Army, but not many teams are UConn. (3) | |
1. Akron | 0-2 | It's hard to argue with the rankings on this one. Akron lost to Auburn 60-10 to open the season and followed it up with a 45-24 loss to Temple. That's the same Temple team that let Rutgers hang 61 points on it a week earlier. By Bottom 25 math, Rutgers is 68 points better than Akron. This week, the Zips face Bryant, and I'm suggesting they win that game. (2) |
No longer ranked: Houston (25), Southern Miss (24), Indiana (20), Northwestern (19), Louisville (18), Temple (17), Washington (15), Western Michigan (14), Kent State (13)